


What Really Happened in Argentina

by Tardis_Witch



Series: Marvel One-shots and Drabbles [3]
Category: How I Met Your Mother, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Crossover, F/M, I'm a mess guys, The Real reason they broke up, i love these two too much, swarkles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 17:52:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8810308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tardis_Witch/pseuds/Tardis_Witch
Summary: Barney discovers Robin's secret identity, and things go south





	

Agent Maria Hill scaled the wall of the hotel building in Argentina, climbing stealthily through the window into the room. She glanced around, assuring she had shaken the tail that had been following her for the past few blocks. When she saw no evidence of the black clad figures she heaved a sigh of relief.

Then she felt the cold metal of a gun against her back.

"Hello, agent Hill," an accented voice said softly from behind her. "We have a message for the Avengers."

She breathed out slowly, slowing her heart and calming her mind. "Haven't you heard? The Avengers are scattered," she said. The room was dark, but she knew there was a fireplace on the far wall, equipped with pokers and other tools that could be useful. "Half of them are in hiding, they're considered criminals now." A suitcase lay open at the foot of the bed, and under the layers of clothing she had her weapons stashed in a secret compartment. If she could keep the men -- and yes there were multiple; at least three -- from pulling any triggers she could disarm them and have a gun in each hand before --

The bare bulb above the bed flickered on as a man entered the hotel room, he took in the scene with a bewildered look on his face. "What the hell is this? Get away from my wife!" he demanded, trying to look intimidating although all but one of the men were taller than he.

Maria -- or Robin as her husband, Barney, knew her -- looked at him, trying to tell him to run, but he met her gaze and gave a slight shake of his head. He was in this with her. God, why did he have to be such an idiot?

"Wife?" The man behind Maria said, intrigued, "Maria Hill is married?"

"Hill?" Barney repeated, "Her name is Scherbatsky, Robin Scherbatsky, now get the he** out of our room."

The men flanking her attacker pulled their guns out and leveled them at Barney. Any pretense of him being a threat -- if it had even existed -- flew out the window as he screamed, throwing himself to the floor and cowering behind the bed.   
Maria rolled her eyes, this complicated matters. She hadn't wanted to do it this way. She stomped on the toes of the man behind her, taking the split second of distraction as an opportunity to turn and wrench his gun from his hands. Before the other two men could react -- there were three of them, she had been right -- she pulled the trigger and took them out. She turned the gun on the last one standing, but her hands were shaking. She had seen Barney in her peripherals as she'd taken the shots; seen the shock on his face. He wasn't supposed to see her like this. He was never supposed to know.

Her moment of hesitation was all the Argentinian needed. He vaulted out the window and escaped into the night.

Maria Hill turned toward Barney, dropping the gun. Silence hung in the air as he stared at her and she avoided his gaze. Finally she muttered, "we need to leave."

"Robin, what the hell just happened?" Barney asked in a small voice.

"We need to leave," she repeated firmly, throwing things from around the room into the suitcase. Barney just stood there, looking from her to the two bodies and back.

"Barney!" she shouted, "Pack for god's sake. He's probably on his way back with reinforcements and we need to be half way to Japan by then."

"Japan? I -- what? I thought we were going back to New York, and what about your News Broadcast tomorrow? We came all the way to Argentina, you can't just --"  
"Oh my god Barney!" Maria screamed, "Don't you get it? There is no World Wide News job!" She shook her head, " I don't have time to explain, we need to get out of here."  
"Robin you just --" Barney began, but choked on his words, eyes darting to the bodies. "I don't think I can just fly to Japan with you without an explanation."

Maria sighed, "I promise, I will tell you everything. But we really need to leave."

Barney looked at her, obviously still confused and conflicted, but he nodded silently and moved to help her gather their things.

 

Later, in a different hotel room in Japan, the two of them sat down on the edge of the bed and Robin began her story. She told him about joining SHIELD, about the collapse and working with the Avengers, about how her news job had always been a front, a way to divert attention so the agents could work in the shadows without anyone suspecting. About what she had really been doing in Argentina, and all the other countries they'd been visiting because of "World Wide News."

"Wait, so … Nora, Patrice, what about them?" Barney asked.

"They know," Robin said. "The whole office knows. Some of them are field agents and some of them only work with files and information, but they all know."  
"Even Sandy?" Barney asked incredulously.

Robin laughed, "No, not Sandy. He really was just an idiot that we used to face our operations."

Barney tried to laugh, but his smile died quickly. Under other circumstances he might have been ecstatic about this news -- he was married to a secret agent -- but there was a weight on his heart that he couldn't seem to ignore. So many things that he thought he'd known about Robin had been a lie. He still loved her, but after he had vowed to always be truthful with her … He understood that she hadn't been able to tell him, but it still felt like betrayal.

He smiled crookedly, trying to act normal although he knew he wasn't completely pulling it off. "It's a little ironic, don't you think? That you made such a big deal about me being a liar when you're -- well, y'know."

"It was because of this," Robin said, "I knew that I had to keep this whole aspect of my life a secret from you. I didn't want any more secrets or lies getting between us. I know it seems unfair, and believe me, I have wanted to tell you so many times but I just -- I couldn't."

"I know," Barney said, he looked at Robin -- his wife, the love of his life, the person he loved most in the whole world -- and felt almost as if he were looking at a stranger. "I'm just… I'm going to need a little time to … process."

Robin nodded sighing, "No," she said, to his surprise. Before he could ask what she meant, she said, "We need to be over."  
"What?" Barney asked, his feelings of doubt suddenly seemed inconsequential. "I mean there's this whole side of you that I never knew but, that doesn't change us. That doesn't change how much I love you."  
"I know," Robin said, her voice breaking, "but Barney, they know my name. You told them my real name and now -- they could come for you. They could come for all of you and I just, I don't think I could handle that."

Barney looked at her, shocked. He shook his head, forcing a nonchalant smile, "What, no. Come on Robin, I'm sure there are tons of Scherbatskys. There's no way they could find you, we'll be fine." He turned her face toward himself, trying to give her a reassuring looking, but she just shook her head and pulled away from him.

"He got away," she said, "I slipped up and I let him get away, and now who knows who he will tell? I can't risk it. I need to put distance between us."

Barney's face fell and he looked toward the ground, "are you asking for a divorce?" he asked quietly.  
Robin nodded solemnly, "it's the only way I can make sure you're safe."

The silence weighed down on Barney's shoulders; there were a million things he wanted to say, a million arguments he wanted to make. This girl might be a liar and a killer, but she was the best thing that had ever happened to his life. He couldn't just let her go. But he couldn't bring himself to say anything other than, "What should we tell the others?"

Robin sighed, "Tell them that -- we had a stupid argument. Tell them that all the moving around was just, just too hard on us. Neither of us were happy, the magic died and -- we decided it would be for the best."

Barney scoffed. "There's no way they'll believe that," he said, "it would take a lot more than that to break our love." He reached out and intertwined her fingers with his.

"They'll have to believe it," she said, pulling her hand away as she stood and folded her arms. Barney looked at her, searching her eyes for something -- comfort, explanation, he wasn't sure what -- but she averted her gaze.

"So," he said, realizing fully that this was a final decision. He swallowed, "we're getting a divorce."

Robin nodded, a muscle in her jaw clenching. "We're getting a divorce."


End file.
